War

Chapter 1

2053

                ‘Every gift comes with a price. Some prices are small, like a thank you or money. Simple, little things that many of us take for granted. Others are not so simple. And many are not so small.’

                The words echoed inside Nora’s head as she read the inscription on the gravestone in front of her.

Audrey Layna

Hero

Leader

Sister

2032-2050

                Hero, leader, sister. These words are words that meant nothing only three years ago. 2050 marked a year when the war that restored meaning to these words had ended in triumph. But as Audrey always said, every gift comes with a price. Many died in that war, many more were injured for life. Audrey started out at the bottom, teaching her little sister the true way that life should be. Nora longed to hear her sister’s voice again. She longed to make her sister proud. Audrey started out as nothing but a meek little mouse scurrying through the streets guarded by tyranny disguised as democracy, a ghost, seeing through the lies of the ‘living’. Like everyone else who wasn’t part of the council, she was deemed worthless by those above her. But she was something much stronger than what the enemy gave her credit for. She was Hope, Mercy, Truth, all the things that underlings longed for, but where denied by those in higher brackets of society. She was born worthless into what was Class 5, but died a powerful army general. One who ruled not by Force and Fear, but by Honesty and Fairness.

                Nora looked up from the headstone to see her cousin Sonya leaning over it, looking down at the ground. Cousin, this was another word which before the Great War had no meaning. She brought her eyes up to meet Nora’s. Nora remembered her sister telling them about things like Honor and Family.

                “Do you think Audrey would be proud of us?” Nora asked. Sonya shook her head and smiled.

                “You ask me that every day, kid,” she said; her eyes shifted upward to the sky, “I don’t think she’s proud,” she said. Sonya looked back to Nora. “I know she’s proud.” Nora smiled. Her mind went back to the Great War. It was an important part of their history. It also was a dark reminder of what a corrupt society can do to the innocent.

                2050

                Audrey looked up at the sky through the sewer grating. Based on where the sun, was it was probably around 3 o’clock in the afternoon. The Police would be patrolling the streets in about five minutes. She jumped down from the ladder she had climbed to reach the grating. She was unusually tall for a girl her age or just for a girl in general. She grabbed her lantern and headed down the tunnel, being careful to avoid the water. People had long since given up on taking care of the environment and now used the sewers to throw away just about any liquid one could think of. The water was a viscous, green slime that snaked around the upturned concrete that lined the bottom of the sewer. The smell was indescribable. It was almost like the smell of water after it had been in a water bottle for years, mixed with a strange industrial smell. The walls were covered with a thick, black, tar like substance that was chipping away like old paint. Various engraving covered the walls. Some were pleas of help from those who got lost in the vast tunnel system. Others told of life stories and diary entries from past inhabitants. The ones Audrey paid attention to the most were the ones that held notes. Most of these she assumed were written by the ones who had gotten the closest to winning the war. The war in question was one that had been raging ever since the government decided that they could do whatever they wanted in 2026. That decision was made after the art of genetic engineering was perfected in 2025. This revelation gave governments the kind of control that turned them against their own people. Fury bubbled in Audrey as the thought crossed her mind.